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The Forum Communications News Service is the premier news wire service covering the Upper Midwest, including the Dakotas, Minnesota and Wisconsin. In addition to breaking and enterprise news, we offer a wide variety of sports, features, business, agriculture, outdoors and opinion content. For more information about the services we offer or to discuss content subscriptions, please contact us.

FARGO — Vice President Mike Pence will be in Fargo March 27 to support Rep. Kevin Cramer, R-N.D., in his campaign for the U.S. Senate. Cramer announced Pence's visit Friday, March 16, in an email. He is challenging incumbent Democrat Heidi Heitkamp in a Senate race drawing national attention and funding. "Mike Pence epitomizes the best qualities of a public servant," Cramer's email said. "He and President Trump have been true friends to North Dakota and strong partners in advancing our state's economy and culture."

ST. PAUL -- State officials are warning Minnesotans not to consume a plant called kratom in any form because it may be contaminated with salmonella. Minnesota’s health and agriculture departments, along with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, as well as several other states, are investigating a multi-state outbreak of salmonella infections linked to kratom consumption, a health department news release said Friday, March 16.

GRAND FORKS—Grand Forks Police arrested a man Wednesday night, March 14, after they discovered a homemade bomb in a home while investigating a shooting report. According to a police news release, officers were called about 7 p.m. to Sam's Club for a report of shots fired. Grand Forks Lt. Derik Zimmel said group of men in two vehicles had agreed to meet in the parking lot for an as-yet undisclosed reason.

ROSEAU, Minn. -- Minnesota Lottery officials said Thursday someone bought the winning $22.8 million ticket drawn Wednesday at a Holiday Station store in Roseau. General Manager Angie Brodshaug of Store No. 193 said the winner hadn’t claimed the ticket yet Thursday, but the phones have been ringing off the hook since the news first came out.

GRAND FORKS - A woman was hospitalized March 15 after a small passenger vehicle collided with a semi trailer in Grand Forks, police said. The collision occurred at 55 St. N. and Gateway Drive just before 5 a.m. Police said the vehicle was traveling northbound approaching Gateway Drive when it collided with an oncoming semi tractor trailer that was traveling eastbound. The female driver of the car was ejected onto the roadway and has been hospitalized. The collision is under investigation. Check back later for more on this story.

FARGO—The Fargo Toys 'R' Us store is expected to close as part of a nationwide shutdown of the brand. The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday, March 14, that the company told its employees on Wednesday that the struggling big-box retailer will sell or close all of its U.S. stores. The decision threatens up to 33,000 American jobs, according to the WSJ report.

BISMARCK — Two unlicensed Cass County contractors have been banned from doing business in North Dakota after it was determined in Cass County District Court that they had violated consumer fraud and licensing laws, the North Dakota Attorney General's Office announced Wednesday, March 14. Collin Strehlow, doing business as NailedIt Home Improvements, took advance payments from homeowners in Cass County for home improvement projects, including deck repair and garage construction, and then did not deliver the materials or complete the work, the attorney general's office said.

BISMARCK — North Dakota Secretary of State Al Jaeger approved the format for a petition to gather signatures to boost the state's minimum wage, his office said Wednesday, March 14. Petition backers must obtain at least 13,452 valid signatures by the end of the day July 9 to have the measure on the November ballot. The measure would increase North Dakota's minimum wage to $9.83 per hour by 2019 before climbing to $15 per hour in 2021. North Dakota's current minimum wage reflects the federal standard of $7.25 per hour.